June 5th: Meiji Lucky Stick

Although the summer season has begun in the Far East (thus no chocolates from JList for awhile DOH!!), my friend Peter couldn't help but share one last lot of goodies from his fine array of Japanese snacks and foods - See HERE. Over the past few years I've tried many a different biscuit stick snack from those shores - everything from Picola, Mikado, Fran ... oh yes and of course the legendary Pocky :-D Well today I got to try yet another biscuit stick brand - this time two flavours from Meiji's 'Lucky Stick' range.

Both of these varieties were sent to me in 45.0g boxes that contained single foil packets full of the biscuit sticks. The two flavours I got to try were the original Milk Chocolate and Cappuccino varieties and I tested them alongside some work colleagues who unsurprisingly were more than happy to lend a helping hand with the taste testing. Before going to detail on that it is worth making mention to the standard of the presentation which was consistent with most products from the Far East in that it was all rather classy. The boxes were constructed with glossy cardboard and articulated the product content well with clear on pack visuals and branding. It was also nice that both had English translations of the on the back so I could tell what the hell I was eating :-D

These had a nice cookies and cream type vibe to them with the biscuits surprisingly leading the way with the stronger cocoa influence. The milk chocolate coating had a creamier influence on the taste, with the stick portion providing a substantial chocolate, buttery shortbread base for every mouthful. The sticks were noticeably thicker than most other brands but as ever with these sort of snacks to me they were more moreish than substantial. They were universally liked by the taste test group.

7.6 out of 10

Cappuccino - 'Biscuit sticks with cappuccino flavoured cream'

Kcal 220 Fat 11.0g Fat(sats) 4.5g Carbs 28.0g (per 45.0g packet)

These smelt strongly like the instant cappuccino sachets you get and the aromas wafted out the foil packet as soon the seal was broken. Compared to the biscuit sticks of the milk chocolate variety above they weren't as strongly flavoured and had more of a milder, sugary wheat biscuit impact on the taste. The cappuccino cream did bring a creamy coffee aspect to the party, however it was more of a 'fake' coffee influence that one could expect from any run of the mill instant powdered coffee. I was a little disappointed with them in all honesty.

7.0 out of 10

Overall these were both fair standard biscuit stick products but they certainly weren't special or over and above anything I had experienced before. If you were going to try one of the two I would say to go for the milk chocolate ones as I personally thought they were nicer, more satisfying variety with their stronger taste.